The rewards at stake for winning this match were enormous and the pre-match build-up added to the atmosphere of another big Wembley occasion. England began as favourites but at the end trudged off disappointed at losing their long and proud unbeaten record.

The highlight for any Scotland team is to beat the 'auld enemy', but to do it when England were the current world champions gave them much satisfaction.

The game was not a particularly good one, although it was to have an explosive finish. Scotland made a thrilling start and were making an impact as soon as the first whistle went. Law, Baxter, Bremner and McCalliog all played as though their lives depended on it, but the early pressure paid off when they opened the scoring just before the half-hour was up.

Law, showing typically sharp reflexes after a rebound from Wallace's shot reached him, fired past Gordon Banks to send the excitable Scottish fans wild with delight. Wembley was a 'sea of tartan'.

To be fair, England were handicapped by a nasty early injury to big Jack Charlton. He injured a toe - suspectedly broken - in a tackle on Lennox and was forced to hobble painfully but bravely on the right wing. He later moved to centre-forward.

England's attack, with the recalled Jimmy Greaves, never really got to grips with the strong Scottish defence and only Bobby Charlton looked dangerous. The Manchester United star had a fine game and his flowing runs were the feature of England's play.

The home side certainly had their fair share of injuries in this match. Apart from Jack Charlton's toe, Greaves's effectiveness was reduced by a swollen ankle and Ray Wilson was reduced to half-pace by a knock he received. It was a punishing game but all those excuses did not hide the fact that Scotland wanted to win more than England seemed to.

The second half was an even contest with the Scots seemingly content with Law's goal, but with ten minutes to go they sealed the result with a second, decisive goal. Nobby Stiles missed a lob forward from Gemmell, and Lennox was there to score easily.

Everyone thought that that would be the end, but suddenly England produced a rousing finale. In the last five minutes there were three more goals. Jack Charlton, still hobbling valiantly, managed to poke the ball home after an Alan Ball pass. That pulled one back but almost immediately a clever 'one-two' between Wallace and the impressive McCalliog ended with the latter celebrating his debut with a goal. England still refused to surrender and before the final whistle, Geoff Hurst headed a Bobby Charlton cross past Simpson.

So, England's 19-match unbeaten run which has stretched since October 1965 had finally come to an end. Circumstances were such that not much went England's way on the day but all credit to the Scots, who produced a passionate performance which deservedly gave them victory. The win clinched the season's Home Championship and kept them in the lead for that place in the 1968 European Nations finals. The eventual qualifiers, based on two years' Home Championships, would probably be decided by the following February's clash of these two teams at Hampden Park.
  

Scotland claimed they were world champions after handing England their first defeat in twenty matches, but it was something of a hollow victory against a team reduced to eight fit players. Jack Charlton hobbled at centre-forward for much of the match with a broken toe, Ray Wilson was a limping passenger after getting a kick on the ankle, and Jimmy Greaves was reduced to half pace by a knock in his comeback match. Denis Law was at his tormenting best and gave Scotland the lead after twenty-eight minutes, and it remained at 1-0 until a four-goal rush in the last twelve minutes. Celtic winger Bobby Lennox made it 2-0 before Jack Charlton bravely pulled one back. Gordon Banks was beaten at the near post by Jim McCalliog and then Hurst headed home a Bobby Charlton cross. Nobby Stiles, Denis Law's Manchester United team-mate, said later: "I knew the Scots were taking it very seriously when Denis came on to the pitch wearing shinpads. I had never seen him wear them before." Four of the Scottish team helped Celtic become the first British club to win the European Cup the following month. The newly knighted Sir Alf Ramsey said: "Scotland deserved their victory, but I hope they will accept it as a fact rather than an excuse when I say we were heavily handicapped by injuries."
  

The world champions needed only a point to complete a hat-trick of outright British Championships. Scotland had not lost at Wembley since the 1961 thrashing but needed to win to claim their first outright title since 1963 and go top of European Championship Group Eight for the first time.
England were severely hampered by an 11th-minute injury to Jack Charlton, who collided with Lennox and broke his toe. After treatment for 15 minutes, he returned and performed courageously in attack. His presence in defence was missed though, and Scotland took the lead when Wallace shot and Denis Law diverted the ball away from Banks's hands. The 'keeper could only stop it with his feet, but Law 'swallowed up' the rebound.
Jack Charlton ignored the pain to beat two defenders on the line after a clever back-heel from Greaves put Ball through to round Simpson. England's hopes were dashed immediately, however, when Jim McCalliog played a 'one-two' with Wallace and beat Banks at the near post. Although Geoff Hurst headed in a late consolation from Bobby Charlton's cross, England were beaten for the first time since winning the World Cup by their oldest rivals, who, at times, had toyed and tormented them with arrogant ball-skills.
Scotland were to lose their advantage in the European Championship six months later by losing to Northern Ireland in Belfast and were well-beaten on their next visit to Wembley.
     

On a glorious spring afternoon, the annual match between England and Scotland produced some sparkling attacking football which delighted the crowd and especially the thousands of colourful and gay supporters from north of the border. England suffered an unfortunate reverse in the 12th minute when Jack Charlton was injured and spent the rest of the game hobbling on the wing. Later it was disclosed that he had broken his big toe. However, Scotland had already shown that they were in command and frequent raids on the England goal always looked menacing. England, on the other hand, seemed out of touch, with little cohesion in their play. Law scored for Scotland after 27 minutes and England were a trifle fortunate to be only one goal in arrears at the interval. Their forwards were seldom 'in the picture' and neither Hurst nor Greaves (replacing Hunt) were able to disturb the solid Scottish defence. Several of the England players were well below their best and the second half continued with Scotland still well on top. However, Jack Charlton twice went close to scoring for England before Scotland appeared to have made the game safe with a second goal, scored by Lennox 12 minutes from the end.

A gallant reply by the home attack brought a goal from Jack Charlton, but Scotland were not allowing success to 'slip through their fingers' at this late stage and scored the best goal of the match through McCalliog after clever play on the left and caught Cohen on the wrong foot. Hurst reduced the arrears once again before the end, but Scotland were very worthy winners of one of the most exciting matches in recent years.
     

Source Notes

TheFA.com
UEFA.com
LondonHearts.com
Original newspaper reports
Rothman's Yearbooks
Mike Payne's England: The Complete Post-War Record (Breedon Books Publishing Company, Derby, U.K., 1993)
Norman Giller, Football Author
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CG